App Development: Getting Started

Deprecation Warning! The content below is only applicable for use within deprecated 1.x versions of CA Agile Central's App SDK. Use of the components and code on this page is not supported. To develop custom apps within our current environments, please see App SDK 2.0 documentation.

Writing an app requires basic knowledge of HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. The App SDK provides easy access to CA Agile Central data through the Web Services API and a set of configurable UI components to build your app. An App Development Starter Kit has also been created to allow you to create apps using the same tools used internally by CA Agile Central.

Include the App SDK

In order to use the App SDK, include the latest version of sdk.js (1.29 as of this writing):

<script type="text/javascript" src="/apps/1.29/sdk.js"></script>

Note that this relative script include will load the SDK from the server in which the enclosing CA Agile Central custom tab is running. See Development and Debugging for advice on developing apps externally first.

App Code

rally.addOnLoad represents the main entry point for an app. The addOnLoad function ensures all SDK components have been loaded before app code begins executing. A typical usage is below:

By specifying a fully qualified URL, the app can be run in any browser (outside of CA Agile Central). Additionally, enabling debug mode includes an uncompressed version of the SDK which can aid in debugging. On-premises customers should replace rally1.rallydev.com with their appropriate CA Agile Central server.

CA Agile Central recommends developing and debugging apps externally first since it is faster than repeated copying and pasting code into a CA Agile Central custom tab. It is also easier to edit code in an IDE than in CA Agile Central's editor dialog. More information on running apps outside CA Agile Central can be found here.

CA Agile Central recommends using Chrome and its Developer Tools or Firefox and Firebug for debugging apps. IE is supported by the App SDK but the developer tools are not as friendly to use.It is usually more efficient to develop in Chrome or Firefox and then do some final testing in IE as necessary.